HYDERABAD: The Yashoda Group of Hospitals will now be performing the Pulmonary Thrombo-Endarterectomy surgery in collaboration with surgeons from the Duke University, USA. This is the first collaboration of its kind to be forged by a healthcare group in India.PTE is a surgical cure for patients suffering from a very rare condition called Chronic Thrombo-Embolic Pulmonary Hypertension. It is a condition where a patient suffers from abnormal hypertension due to blood clots in the pulmonary artery. Symptoms may develop very gradually and patients may delay seeing a doctor for years. Common symptoms include increased breathlessness, limitation in exercise, fatigue leading to reduced life expectancy. Dr GS Rao, managing director, Yashoda Group of Hospitals said, “CTEPH is a rare and a lethal condition. Our distinctive partnership with Duke University surgeons is part of our commitment to develop an in-depth understanding of this extremely complex surgery and provide CTEPH patients in India a chance of improved survival. Duke University Medical Center runs one of the largest PTE programme in the US.” This initiative will aim to provide treatment to over 25,000 patients suffering from CTEPH in India.The usual treatment is a heart-lung transplant which is not done in India. Besides, transplantation is quite expensive and includes higher pre-operative risks like death due to shortage of suitable donors and possibility of infection or rejection of the organ. PTE is performed under general anaesthesia, which takes six to eight hours, depending on the number and size of clots and where they are located. The surgery involves the patient to be first cooled to 18 degrees, then the heart and blood circulation is stopped and the operation is performed in an expeditious manner. Typically, it takes four weeks to fully recover.Dr Duane R Davis, Dr Lankala Chandrashekar Reddy along with anaesthesiologist Dr Mark Stafford-Smith, from the Duke University Medical Center will be visiting Yashoda Hospitals with their expert surgical team to perform PTE surgeries. Elaborating on details of the programme Dr Rao added, “We are initially conducting two to three surgeries in collaboration with surgeons from the Duke University. We will continue to perform more PTE surgeries after drawing complete knowledge of the procedure. Our association will continue and the Duke surgeons will continue to support us.”Dr Lankala Chandrashekar Reddy, transplant surgeon said, “PTE still remains an uncommon procedure. This is partly due to the fact that CTEPH is the most improperly diagnosed or under-diagnosed condition. Usually patients suffering from CTEPH show signs of heart failure, shortness of breath or come in for stroke. It usually is not diagnosed until a person is referred for pulmonary hypertension or lung transplant.”Dr. Mark Stafford-Smith, director, adult cardio-thoracic anaesthesia, Duke University Medical Center and Dr A Ram Mohan, cardio-thoracic surgeon from Yashoda Hospitals were also present.
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